Concrete Grinding and Polishing Tips

By October 20, 2016August 23rd, 2018concrete-polishing-denver

At All West Surface Prep, we specialize in concrete flooring solutions. From concrete resurfacing to concrete polishing to concrete grinding, we can handle almost all of your concrete flooring projects. Although we specialize in industrial and commercial flooring, the processes are more or less the same for residential spaces—just less space, less equipment, and less time required. In today’s blog, we would like to offer you some tips for performing your own concrete grinding and polishing.

If you are in the Denver area and in need of commercial flooring contractors, contact us today. Learn more about our concrete grinding, check out our project gallery, and read on to learn about performing your own concrete polishing and grinding.

Utilize play sand

When using a concrete grinder, use play sand. This can function as a brilliant abrasion aid. In addition to assisting with the actual concrete grinding process, it can also keep the diamonds dressed and cooled. When diamonds are not cooled, the matrix can swell, trapping diamonds. Adding some play sand can remedy this situation. It can provide the debris needed to help abrade away the matrix and expose new diamonds.

Rotate concrete grinding machines

Regularly rotating a machine is a common practice in all concrete grinding jobs. Most of the time, this is simply done by activating the “rotation” button. When you do this, you achieve a number of things. Firstly, this will redress a diamond that has a direct wear pattern. Secondly, this will help cool stones and, therefore, produce a different leading edge.

Presoak when removing carpet

If you are attempting to perform concrete resurfacing on a floor that has carpet, consider presoaking the carpet. By adding water, you will create swelling in the material that debonds the adhesive from the concrete.

One important thing to keep in mind is that you don’t want to overdo it with the water. You want just enough to loosen up the bond. If you add too much water, you can cause the adhesive material to spread on the surface and dry, creating another problem. Additionally, pay attention to the color of the adhesive. Oftentimes, if it is yellow and white, it will be susceptible to debonding with water. Green and blue adhesives, on the other hand, are often epoxy-based, meaning water will not aid in the removal.

Presoak hard-trowel slab

To help in the concrete grinding process, presoak a hard-trowel slab. By doing this, you can significantly reduce surface tension while also helping to bring sand and small aggregate to the surface, which will help improve the grind. Presoaking will also help bring down the surface temperature of the concrete, improving the operational temperature of the tooling.

Keep water channels open

For wet resin pads and wet-transfer tooling, it is crucial to keep the water and air channels open. If these changes become clogged, they can trap tools, build up, and cause unwanted scratches and marks. Keeping these channels open will also help maintain safe and constant operating temperatures, which, if aren’t regulated, can lead to poor performance and premature wear and tear.

At All West Surface Prep, we pride ourselves on our quality of work, professionalism, and ability to take old floors and turn them into great-looking, long-lasting floors. With more than 25 years of experience, we feel confident in saying we can handle nearly all of your commercial and industrial concrete flooring projects. Whether you have an old, worn-out floor that is in need to concrete resurfacing, or you are looking for some industrial floor polishers to perform concrete polishing on your brand new floor, we are here for you. If you want it done ASAP, call AWSP!